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‘Westworld’ recap: Some answers, at long last, in Episode 2

The second episode of Season 2 of 'Westworld' fills in some key blanks in the twisty show's sprawling mythology, and also is a great showcase for Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and young William (Jimmi Simpson).

Spoiler alert! The following contains details from Westworld Season 2 Episode 2, "Reunion."

Thanks for 'fessing up, Westworld.

As much as the success of HBO's drama has relied upon the twisting mysteries the writers were able to spin for viewers, it’s really quite satisfying to slot some pieces into the puzzle. That the second season has so far remained engaging and thrilling without relying so much on what we don’t know is a testament to how much the show has grown. Sixteen months between seasons has been well worth the wait.

Although this season's second episode (which aired April 29) doesn’t have quite enough Maeve (Thandie Newton) for me (no Westworld episode has ever had enough Maeve, if I’m being honest), this was a solid hour that was tighter than the sprawling season premiere. And though we have a few answers, writers have plenty more to surprise us.

We’re not here yet

It takes a moment to figure out where we are in the show's opening, and when, thanks to Jeffrey Wright doing double duty as Arnold and Bernard. But soon it becomes clear that we’re in a city at the beginning of the park, before Arnold’s son Charlie died.

Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) has taken a trip beyond the park’s boundaries to be part of a presentation to investors, but Arnold is most concerned with how she reacts to the world. Arnold shows her the city view and his home, hoping to get different reactions from her, but when she parrots her own line about the “splendor” she sees, she leaves her creator (temporarily) disappointed.

Arnold, however, is the only one disappointed by the early hosts. In a later flashback to Logan (Ben Barnes), before his and William's ill-fated trip to the park, he meets with a representative of the park and Angela (Talulah Riley), who’s dressed like a human and posing as a company employee. Logan is initially unimpressed, because many tech companies are pitching him on virtual reality these days. (Don’t worry, Logan, this is more impressive than VR.)

They take him to a party populated entirely by hosts, and Logan, reasonably, flips out. His reaction helps explain why the real world looks only mildly futuristic. “We’re not here yet,” he says to Angela and the park representative. Robert and Arnold’s technology is so advanced, the rest of the world hasn’t caught up yet.

Delos Analytica

Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) has been outside of the park at least twice, we learn in Episode 2 of "Westworld."(Photo: HBO)

Here it is, friends: the answer to the mystery first posed by Sizemore and Theresa in the very first episode: What does Delos get out of the park? The answer is not all that unfamiliar, especially if you’ve been paying attention to the news about a certain social-media giant.

The point isn’t the park or even the robots, but the guests. In another flashback, we see a young William (Jimmi Simpson) in Sweetwater, after the first trip, convincing Logan’s father (Peter Mullan) to invest in the park. Papa Delos isn’t interested in funding entertainment, and William is ready with another benefit: Data. People act like they’re not being watched in Westworld, William argues, so why not watch them? The real business model here is to gather information about the guests and use it to make money elsewhere, which is exactly what Bernard guessed they were doing in last week's episode.

That clearly was at least a billion-dollar idea, because by the time we see William in another flashback, he’s the belle of the ball at Papa Delos’ retirement party, where Dolores has been employed as entertainment. William’s rise is in direct contrast to Logan’s downfall. He’s now a junkie, but a particularly wise one, spewing nonsense at Dolores that might just predict a robot revolution.

Simpson does great work in this episode, making the younger version of William more quietly menacing than Ed Harris’ showy villain. In a lot of ways, this William is scarier, happily posing as a loving husband and father while we know his real desires.

In another flashback, William visits Dolores in the park headquarters, while she’s naked and deactivated. After she brings herself back online, William appears to finally close the door on his feelings for her, and his former life. “You really are just a thing, I can’t believe I fell in love with you.” He takes Dolores into the park, where he's building something, and repeats the splendor line she told Arnold, a detail that will surely spark fan theories.

General Dolores

It turns out the “truth” she promised to show Teddy (James Marsden) was the park HQ, and what's happened to him during all his years in the park. She shows Teddy all the times he’s been killed, and watching himself die again and again at the hands of guests sends him into a rage, and he almost kills a tech. But his restraint is what separates him from Dolores, Angela and the other revolutionaries.

Those two have no problem waterboarding a guard with the plastic stuff they use to fabricate the hosts until he gives up security protocols and explain how Delos will respond to the uprising. When she hears the numbers she’s up against, Dolores has a tech wake up a Confederado, and sets out to try to recruit them to her army.

Along the way she meets Maeve, in what seems the first time since she whispered the “violent delights have violent ends” line to her at the beginning of Season 1. It’s a fun moment, but there’s no chance these two will team up. Maeve thinks Dolores’ quest is still too human-focused, just another “prayer at their altar.” Maeve’s group passes after a tense exchange, and she seems to sense Teddy’s hesitation, too.

Dolores eventually reaches a group of Confederados and tries to recruit them, but when they resist she kills them all, then has a tech bring them back. Now they’re on her side. And while Dolores continues to think that what she’s doing is right, considering what the humans have done to the hosts, her methods become even more human-like. Is she not controlling the Confederados without their consent, the same way the humans were, by turning them off and on at her whim?

The group heads out to try to convince the leader of all the Confederados to join the fight, and she promises to lead them all to “glory” and “the valley beyond.” That place, she says, was shown to her by an old friend, and “it’s not a place. It’s a weapon. And I’m going to use it to destroy them.”

Seems like that's the place William was building in the past. And she’s not the only one headed there.

Out of control

The Man in Black (Ed Harris) has some hard choices to make.(Photo: HBO)

Once again, the Man in Black (Ed Harris) saves Lawrence (Clifton Collins Jr.) from imminent death, and takes him as a buddy on his journey. He's not playing Robert's game, just looking for an exit. Once MIB gets out, he promises, he’s going to “burn the place to the ground.”

MIB and Lawrence head to Pariah, and moments after entering the town, they are surrounded by El Lazlo and his men. El Lazlo, of course, is now played by a new host (Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito, in all his speechifying glory).

MIB ignores Lazlo and tries to recruit his men for the journey, but Lazlo simply replies “this game was meant for you, William, but you must play it alone.” Of course, MIB never wanted to play by Robert’s rules, and he explains that where they’re going is his “greatest mistake,” possibly the same place Dolores is headed.

The cocky William we see building that thing, whatever it is, would never admit a mistake. Is it possible that MIB has practiced some self-reflection? That he’s awakened as much as the hosts have? That would be Westworld’s true miracle.

"Westworld" was just the beginning. Fans got a peek at two new parks from the Delos Corporation in Season 2, Episode 3, including a Japanese-themed Shogun World, which we caught a glimpse of here.
John P. Johnson/HBO